FNR-470-W Coloration Exploration Lesson Plan This activity will teach students how animals use coloration to stay alive within their environments. Lesson Plan Overview . 2 Teacher’s Notes . 4 Frog Tally Worksheets . 5 Vocabulary Worksheet & Key . 7 Camo Frogs Picture & Key . 9 Bright Frogs Picture & Key . 11 Animal Line Drawings . 13 Animal Coloration Photo Examples . 17 Kaeda Boyles, Heather Fink, Ellen Kapitan, Suzy Lyttle, Nicole Pakan, Allison Pfeifer, Sarah Tuttle, and Rod Williams Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907 www.purdue.edu/nature Coloration Exploration Lesson Plan Lesson Plan Overview Estimated Time Required Materials 60 minutes • Camo Frogs Picture and Key Vocabulary • Bright Frogs Picture and Key • Coloration • Frog Tally A and B Worksheets • Aposematic coloration • Animal Line Drawings • Cryptic coloration • Animal Coloration Photo Examples • Sexual dimorphism • Forest Ecosystem Poster • Vocabulary Worksheet and Key Lesson Objective • Thick paper for animal printouts Students will be able to identify and give examples of different coloration strategies and indicate how • Crayons/markers they affect an animal’s behavior and survival. Reference Materials Targeted Grade-Level Indiana Standards See teacher’s notes. Math 2.1.8; 2.1.9; 2.1.12 3.1.2; 3.1.10; 3.1.13; 4.2.3; 4.3.2; 4.6.2; 4.6.3 5.1.1; 5.1.4; 5.1.5; 5.2.1; 5.2.2; 5.2.5 Science 2.2.5; 2.4.1; 2.4.4 3.1.2; 3.1.3; 3.2.1; 3.2.5; 3.4.1; 3.4.2; 3.4.3 4.2.4; 4.5.4 5.4.4; 5.4.5; 5.4.7; 5.5.1; 5.5.10 Authors Kaeda Boyles, Heather Fink, Ellen Kapitan, Suzy Lyttle, Nicole Pakan, Allison Pfeifer, Sarah Tuttle, and Rod Williams Acknowledgments The authors would like to thank the Indiana licensed teachers Mrs. Ahnert and Mrs. Garrett for allowing this plan to be presented in their classrooms, and for their thoughtful reviews of this lesson plan. The authors would like to give a special thanks to their fellow students in the Nature of Service Learning class for providing helpful ideas and critiques on previous versions of this publication. Purdue University Agricultural Communication Service • Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service • Editor: Steve Leer • Designer: Dan Annarino Apr. 2013 It is the policy of the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service that all persons have equal opportunity and access to its educational programs, services, activities, and facilities without regard to race, religion, color, sex, age, national origin or ancestry, marital status, parental status, sexual orientation, disability or status as a veteran. Purdue University is an Affirmative Action institution. This material may be available in alternative formats. Order or download materials from LOCAL FACES Purdue Extension • The Education Store EXTENSIONAGRICULTURE OUNTLESS ONNECTIONS C C www.the-education-store.com 1-888-EXT-INFO • www.extension.purdue.edu 2 Coloration Exploration Lesson Plan Procedure 6. Give each student one of the bird or frog 1. Show Camo Frogs picture on the overhead coloring sheets (the teacher will need to or projector. Have the students quietly count hand out representatives of all sheets pro- how many frogs they can find in 30 seconds vided). Each coloring sheet has a description and record that number on the Frog Tally of cryptic, aposematic, male or female. worksheet (worksheet A for pie charting or Students should color their animal according worksheet B for bar graphing). to the description on the sheet. For example: 2. Show the Bright Frogs picture and have the a. Female birds and cryptic frogs will students quietly count how many frogs they need to blend into their surroundings. can find in 30 seconds. Record that number Students should color them earth tones on the Frog Tally worksheet chosen in step 1. like green, brown, and/or black. 3. Show the Camo Frogs Key and then the b. Male birds have showy colors that attract Bright Frogs Key. Point out the locations of a female. Students should use bright frogs to the students. There are 10 frogs in colors for these. each picture. Using either Frog Tally work- c. Aposematic frogs issue a warning sign. sheet A or B, help the students calculate the Students should color these frogs with percentage of frogs they found in each bright colors and bold patterns. picture. Illustrate this using the pie chart 7. After the students have colored their animal and/or bar graph provided. Have students sheet, they will then act out the animal’s answer Question 1. defense strategy. To accomplish this, the 4. Discuss reasons for observed differences in teacher will act as a predator (bobcat, hawk, number of frogs between the two pictures wolf, snake, etc.) and the students will (some frogs are using cryptic coloration and respond in the following ways: aposematic some are using aposematic coloring). and male animals will stand up and hold 5. Explain that animals use a variety of their ground; cryptic and female animals will coloration strategies to stay alive. Define freeze in place and/or hide. Students that do and then show examples of aposematic not exhibit the proper behavior will be coloration, cryptic coloration, and sexual/ captured by the teacher until the next round. gender dimorphism. 8. As a conclusion, have the students review • Aposematic coloration: skunk, each coloration strategy and fill out the Vocabulary Worksheet coral snake . • Cryptic coloration: Fowler’s toad, 9. As homework or a second classroom activity, arctic hare have the students pick one of their animals and write a story about it. • Sexual/gender dimorphism: cardinal, mallard 3 Coloration Exploration Lesson Plan Teacher’s Notes Animal coloration, which can include both the coloration to brown in the summer. Examples of coloration and patterns of color on an animal’s cryptically colored animals are bobcats, deer, body, may affect the behavior (active during the horned lizards, green frogs and walking stick insects. day vs. nighttime) and survival of many species in In summary, both aposematic and cryptic color- the animal kingdom. The coloration of an animal ation help increase an animal’s survival, but they can help it blend into its environment (crypsis) or work in different ways. An animal with aposematic make it stand out (aposematic). In this lesson coloration is going to display its bright colors and plan we compare and contrast a few different patterns to a predator, relying on the predator’s coloration strategies: aposematic vs. cryptic and knowledge that this animal will be dangerous to of males vs. females. eat. A cryptic animal will try to hide and blend into Aposematic Coloration vs. its surroundings, relying on its coloration to make it invisible to the predator. Cryptic Coloration An animal utilizing aposematic coloration, or Sexual/Gender Dimorphic Coloration warning coloration, is alerting other animals that it Sexual or gender dimorphism (sexual dimorphism is potentially dangerous. These brightly colored and is the scientific term; however, depending on age boldly patterned animals stand out in their environ- group and maturity, gender may be substituted) is ment and advertise that they may be poisonous, the difference between males and females within a venomous, or taste bad. Animals that have aposematic species of animal, and, in this case, the differences coloration often move slowly and are active during in coloration. This phenomenon is most noticeable the daylight hours. A few examples of animals with in birds but can occur in other types of animals. aposematic coloration are skunks, poison arrow Typically, the male is brightly colored to signal he is frogs, bees, coral snakes, red-spotted newts and the best mate for females or to attract the atten- monarch butterflies. tion of a predator when a male flees the nest. An animal utilizing cryptic coloration blends into its Females, on the other hand, are generally duller in surroundings. A cryptically colored animal may coloration because they must tend to the nest after have coloration that breaks up its outline or that eggs are laid. If a female is brightly colored while matches items in its habitat such as rocks, leaves sitting on a nest, a predator could easily find her and tree bark. Animals that display this coloration and then potentially eat her or the young. Exam- strategy will attempt to hide during the daylight ples of animals that display sexually dimorphic hours and become active at night. Cryptic color- coloration are northern cardinals (the males are ation usually involves a blotchy pattern of browns, bright red, whereas females are gray/tan color), tans, greens, or any color from their environment. mallards (males have a green head, whereas females Some animals are capable of changing their color- are brown), and ring-necked pheasants (males are ation seasonally to match their surroundings, like brightly colored with green and red, whereas the snowshoe hare, that changes its white winter females are brown). 4 Coloration Exploration Lesson Plan Frog Tally A Worksheet How many frogs can you find in each picture in 30 seconds? Camo Frogs Picture Bright Frogs Picture I found: _________ of ________ frogs. I found: _________ of ________ frogs. OR OR I found: ______________ % of the frogs. I found: ______________ % of the frogs. Pie Charts Question 1 - Did you find more frogs in the first or second picture? Why? ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________ 5 Coloration Exploration Lesson Plan Frog Tally B Worksheet How many frogs can you find in each picture in 30 seconds? Camo Frogs Picture Bright Frogs Picture I found: _________ of ________ frogs. I found: _________ of ________ frogs. OR OR I found: ______________ % of the frogs.